The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-05-24

v
ries and furnishes victims for your
scaifolds. II is the life blood OF the
gambler the element Of the burglar,
the prop of the highwayman, and the
support of the midnight incendiary. II
countenances the liar, respects the thief,
esteems the blasphemcr. II violates the
obligation, reverences fraud and honors
infamy. Ii defames benevolence, hates
love, scorns virtue and ISLANDERS inno-
cence; il incites The father to butcher his
helpless offspring, helps the husband TO
massacre his wife and the child TO grind
the parricidal axe. 1t burns up men,
consumes women detests life, curses
God, despi heaven. II suborns wit
nesses, nurses perjury dctiles the jury
box and stains the judicial crmne. 1t
degrades the citizen, debases the legisla'
ture, dishonors statesmen and dlsarms
the patriot. 1t brings shame, not honor;
terror, not safety; despair, not hope;
misery not happiness, and with malev'
olence of flend calmly surveys It's
frightful desolation and unsatisted hav-
oc. 1t poisons felicity, kills peace,
ruins morals, blights confidence, Stays
reputation and wipes out national honor,
then curses the world and laughs at its
ruin. 1t does all that and more. II
murders the soul 1t is the sum of all
vllanies. the father of all crimes, the
mother of all denominations, the devils
best friend and Gods worst enemy
A saloon does not enhance the value
of residence property in its vicinity 1t
does not increase the value of any prop
erty situated near it in a city. 1t no adj
vantage to a dry goods store, bookstore
or any legitimate business. The only
business that it does no harm is the
gambling business.
1t does not improve city in any way
A circus pleases the people and takes all
the money out of the country. 1t spends
some, of course, but the great bulk is
taken out. A saloon does likewise. The
great bulk goes to the distillers, brewers
and Wholesale dealers out side of our
State. No man is benefited by what he
drinks he feels worse than he does after
the circus has left. 1t pays rent for the
house that it occupies. that is all. The
same money would support profitable
house that would not take the money
out of the country, but keep it among
us. The liquor traffic drains the coun-
try. Not so with gambling. The gam
bier spends his money in erecting fine
buildings See Kane g. CampbelPs and
Wilkinson's buildings. The gambler
keeps his money with us. He invests it
in enterprises. He fleeces visitors &C.
casionally and brings that much more
into the common crib.
Besides fellow can make winning
occasionally; he cannot do tina t with the
liquor traffic. The gambling business
unconnected with the liquor traffic, does
not produce one hundredth p Tt of the
crime that the liquor traffic does. Men
do not lose their minds, and in state of
insanity commit murder, nor disturb the
peace. nor become boisterous on our
streets nor beat their wives and kill
their children, nor does it undermine
their health and leave them wrecks. 1t
luck goes against them they are as able
bodied as ever, and their systems are not
soaked with death-dealing poison. Yet
the cry was that closing the gambling
houses in Dallas would bankrupt the
city. Dallas has doomed since then as
she never doomed before. Maine has
had it for over thirty years and only II
few years ago voted it IN her constitu-
ton by large maiority-her people
would hardly have done that if it in
iured property values and produced no
corresponding benefit. Her people never
made wooden nut-megs for fun. 1t was
for business, and you can rest assured
that if the abolition of the liquor traffic
had Worked hardship upon the people
of Maine they would have squealed ere
this.
Kansas has had il for several years,
and has just enacted more stringent laws
to enforce it. If it had impaired prop
erty values, unsettled business and para
lived the commercial interests Of the
country is it reasonable to suppose that
the people there would have demanded a
more rigid enforcement of the measureI
Hardly. They have an eye to number
one rs well rs the rest of humanity.
Would not the more reasonable assump'
ton be that it had wholesome effect
upon the interests of the country. and
the people demanded more of it? The
Governor of the State makes that re